Manual marine winch with lead in webbing strap

ABSTRACT

A manual marine winch includes a housing, a rotating drum in the housing, a drum rotating and holding mechanism, and a winch line having a lead in end formed by a webbing strap. The webbing strap can include an integral safety indicator such as load indicating indicia, operating indicia indicative of operating extremes for the webbing strap, reflective material, or abrasion resistant material. The drum may include a slot receiving the webbing strap. The winch line may include wire rope, chain or rope coupled to the webbing strap. The method of tensioning the winch line includes feeding a lead in end of the winch line through the drum, manually pulling the lead in end through the rotating drum removing slack, and rotating the drum.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to manual winches, and moreparticularly, to a manual marine winch having a lead in webbing strap.

[0003] 2. Brief Description of the Prior Art

[0004] Winches have been used in many applications. Manual winches,including manual swivel winches, have been widely used in barges, towboats and the like (collectively referred to as “boats”). Typically, amanual swivel marine winch is pivotally attached to a boat deck andspools a towing winch line, specifically a wire rope or cable, onto arotatable drum. These manual marine winches often operate underrelatively high tensions and have very sturdy constructions.

[0005] In conventional marine winch constructions, the tension or slacktake up at the beginning of the tensioning operation requires a numberof rotations of the drum and the wrapping of the winch line around thedrum. This labor-intensive slack take up increases the time for thetensioning of the winch and must also be accounted for when paying outthe load and when decoupling the winch line from the winch. In order toexpedite the slack take up, large hand wheels have been added toexisting winches to facilitate free wheeling, free wheeling essentiallyreferring to rotation of the winch line onto the drum when minimumtension, i.e., slack take up, is on the winch line. Multiple layers ofwire rope on the drum will also reduce the achievable tension of thedrum and add the possibility of the payoff line becoming wedged in thelower wraps. There is a need in the art for an improved method of takingthe slack out of a winch line during beginning of tensioning operations.

[0006] Another problem associated with the art is the speed in replacinga broken winch line. Due to the number of wraps of a conventional wirerope around a drum during tensioned operation, the replacement of abroken winch line becomes labor-intensive. With a broken winch line, theentire wrapped amount on the drum must be paid out, the winch linedecoupled, and a new winch line put in place on the drum and on thecoupled or towed barge, tow boat or the like. There is a need in theindustry to provide a quick mechanism for easily replacing broken winchlines.

[0007] A further problem associated with the prior art is that the winchline, typically formed of a wire rope, is not easily seen by operators,particularly at night. A further safety disadvantage of existing winchlines is that existing winch lines cannot easily accommodate safetyfeatures such as material for increasing line visibility or load limitsidentification for quickly conveying this information to the user.

[0008] A final problem associated with prior art marine winches is deckspace. Deck space is a premium on barges and all marine craft.Consequently, minimizing the size of the drum and associated componentsof a marine winch is very advantageous since the overall footprint andheight of the resulting winch can be reduced.

[0009] It is an object of the present invention to provide a manualmarine winch that expedites tension take up. It is a further object ofthe present invention to provide a winch with higher tensions possiblewith minimal operator effort. It is a further object of the presentinvention to provide a manual winch that simplifies the operation of themanual winch. It is another object of the present invention to provide amanual winch with safety indicators incorporated into the manual winchline. It is another object of the present invention to provide a manualwinch with coupling mechanism for attachment to a variety of tie endlines. It is another object of the present invention to provide a manualmarine winch that is compact and is economically manufactured.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0010] The above objects are achieved with a marine winch according tothe present invention. The manual marine winch includes a housing withan attachment mechanism for securing the winch to a boat deck. Themanual marine winch includes a rotating drum mounted within the housing.The manual winch includes a mechanism for rotating and holding tensionon the drum. Additionally, the manual winch includes a winch line havinga lead in end adapted to be wound onto the drum, wherein the lead in endis formed by a webbing strap.

[0011] In one embodiment of the present invention, the webbing strap caninclude an integral safety indicator. The integral safety indicator maybe load indicating indicia integral with the webbing strap, such as textwoven therein. The integral safety indicator may include operatingindicia indicative of operating extremes for beginning of the winding ofthe webbing strap onto the drum. For example, specifically, theoperating indicia may be a colored stripe at either operative end of thewebbing strap indicating how much of either end must extend beyond thedrum at the beginning of the winding to accomplish the appropriatewinding of the webbing strap onto the drum. The safety indicator mayinclude reflective material integral with the webbing strap, such asbeing woven directly therein. The safety indicator or feature may be inthe form of an abrasion resistant material incorporated into the webbingstrap.

[0012] In the manual marine winch of the present invention, the drum mayinclude a slot for receiving the webbing strap therethrough.Additionally, the drum may be formed of a significantly smaller diameterthan a conventional winch, such as a four inch diameter drum, therebysaving valuable deck space. This provides increased tension on the winchwith less effort due to reduced drum diameter. The drum diameter may bereduced due to virtually no minimum bending radius for the webbingstrap. The attachment mechanism of the housing may include couplings forpivotally attaching the housing to the boat deck for 360° of rotation.Alternatively, the attachment mechanism may be in the form of a weldmentwelding the housing to the boat deck. Additionally, the mechanism forrotating and holding tension on the drum may include a gearing systemcoupled to the drum with at least one locking dog for holding tension onthe drum.

[0013] In one embodiment of the present invention, the winch line of thewebbing strap may include wire rope, chain or rope which is coupled tothe webbing strap. A rotatable coupling or swiveling coupling may beutilized for coupling the webbing strap to the remaining portion of thewinch line. The webbing strap may be 3 to 5 inches in width. The webbingstrap of the present invention may include handles incorporated at theleading end thereof to assist in the manipulation of the webbing strap.

[0014] The manual marine winch with lead in webbing strap of the presentinvention provides an improved method for tensioning the winch line. Themethod of tensioning the winch line utilizing the manual marine winch ofthe present invention includes the steps of feeding a lead in end of thewinch line through the rotating drum of the winch, manually pulling thelead in end of the winch line through the rotating drum to remove slackin the winch line, and rotating the drum of the winch to further tensionthe winch. This method provides an exceptionally fast and easy method oftensioning a winch line. A further advantage of the present invention isthat upon failure of the winch line, the winch line can be easily bereplaced. In particular, the webbing strap can be quickly replaced.Additionally, the winch is narrower and shorter than conventional marinewinches saving deck space.

[0015] These and other advantages of the present invention will beclarified in the detailed description of the preferred embodimentstogether with the attached figures wherein like reference numeralsrepresent like elements throughout.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a manual marine winch with lead inwebbing strap according to one embodiment of the present invention;

[0017]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the manual marine winch shown inFIG. 1 with a portion of the housing removed;

[0018]FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the manual marine winch illustratedin FIG. 1;

[0019]FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the manual marine winchillustrated in FIG. 1;

[0020]FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view of the webbing strap and drumin the manual marine winch illustrated in FIG. 1;

[0021]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a manual marine winch according toa second embodiment of the present invention;

[0022]FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a webbing strap for a manual marinewinch according to the present invention; and

[0023]FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a manual marine winch according toa third embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0024] FIGS. 1-4 illustrate a manual marine winch according to a firstembodiment of the present invention. The winch 10 is a manual swivelmarine winch and includes an open bottom structure. The construction andgeneral operation of an open bottom manual swivel marine winch 10 isdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,450 issued to David Grapes which isincorporated herein by reference. In general, the winch 10 includes anopen bottom housing 12 including a pair of spaced side plates togetherwith a mechanism for attaching the winch 10 to a boat deck. The termboat deck is intended to generally refer to the deck of any marinevessel; however, the winch 10 will most commonly be utilized on barges.The attachment mechanism in the winch 10 includes a plate 14 between theside plates of the housing 12 for pivotally attaching the winch 10 to aD-ring or the like of a boat deck. The pivotal attachment allows thewinch 10 to be a swivel winch meaning that the relative position of thewinch 10 can rotate up to 360° about the connection to the boat deck.The attachment mechanism for the winch 10 may also be a weldment tofixedly attach the housing 12 to the boat deck.

[0025] A rotatable spool assembly is rotatably supported between theside plates of the housing 12. The spool assembly includes a rotatabledrum 16 and a drum gear 20 coupled to the drum 16. The drum gear 20 canbe seen in FIG. 2.

[0026] A drive pinion 22 meshes with the drive gear 20 and is manuallyrotatable through a conventional ratcheting lever assembly 24 mountedoutside the housing as is well known in the art. Additionally, at leastone locking dog 26 engages the drum gear 20 for holding tension on thewinch 10 in a conventional fashion. A conventional had brake may also beutilized. Conventional drum foot brake 28 and hand wheel 30 (which isformed as a flange on the drum 16) may also be provided for conventionaloperation of the winch 10. The hand wheel 30, formed by the drum flange,is more compact than separate hand wheels attached to the exterior ofsome existing winches. The hand wheel 30, foot brake 28, locking dog 26,ratcheting lever assembly 24, drive pinion 22 and drive gear 20 combineto form a conventional mechanism for rotating and holding tension on thedrum 16 as will be well known in the art. The drive pinion 22 and drumgear 20 form a gearing system often utilized in marine winches and isalso believed to be well known. The operation and features of theseconventional components will not be described further. A detailedexplanation of these features are provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,450,incorporated herein by reference as discussed above. Additionally, thesefeatures can be found in marine winches sold by W. W. Patterson Companyand others in the industry.

[0027] The winch 10 according to the present invention has a winch line40 extending from the housing 12 to the barge, towboat, or other elementto be connected to the boat deck through the winch 10. As discussedabove, conventionally, marine winches utilize a wire rope or cablewrapped around the drum at least on the lead in end of the winch line.The winch 10 forms the lead in end of the winch line 40 by a webbingstrap 42. The webbing strap 42 is fed through a slot 44 in the drum 16(shown in FIG. 5) prior to wrapping the webbing strap 42 around the drum12. The slot 44 is rounded at the entrance and exit thereof to preventdamage to the webbing strap 42. The webbing strap 42 is coupled to atrailing or tie down end of the winch line 40 through swivel connection46 coupling the webbing strap 42 to wire rope 48. The end of the wirerope 48 may have a loop formed with a swaged fitting 50 and a thimble 52in the loop adjacent to the swivel connection 46. The portion of thewire rope 48 beyond the swage fitting 50 is essentially conventional.FIG. 6 illustrates a second embodiment of the winch 10 in which theswivel connection 46 is replaced with a non-swiveling connection 46′.

[0028] It is expected that the winch line 40 for the winch 10 of thepresent invention can be formed of a webbing strap 42 coupled through anappropriate connection to any appropriate material for forming thetrailing end of the winch line 40 such as chain, conventional rope, orother known line materials. It is even envisioned that the entire winchline 40 may be formed of a webbing strap 42. The formation of thetrailing end of the winch line 40 will depend on the desired operationof the winch 10. The coupling formed by swivel connection 46 andconnection 46′ allows the winch 10 utilizing the webbing strap 42 to beassociated with any conventional line such as wire rope 48.

[0029] In operation, the provision of the webbing strap 42 providessubstantial advantages to the efficient operation of the winch 10 of thepresent invention. Specifically, in operation, once the trailing end ofthe winch line 40 formed by the wire rope 48 is coupled to the adjacentbarge or the like, the lead in end of the winch line 40 formed bywebbing strap 42 is fed through slot 44 by the operator. The operatorthen will pull the webbing strap 42 through the slot 44 to take up theslack in the winch line 40 in a very quick and efficient manner. Oncethe slack has been taken up, the drum 16 can be rotated using theratcheting lever assembly 24 in a conventional manner. Once the webbingstrap 42 begins to wrap on itself, the tension will be held on the drum16. It is contemplated that only 270° to 360° of rotation will benecessary for holding in most applications. However, multiple wraps ofthe webbing strap 42 around the drum 16 may be provided for verysecurely holding the tension on the drum 16 to prevent pull through ofthe webbing strap 42 (i.e., slippage). In addition to the significantadvantage in speed of taking up tension in use of the winch 10, thewinch 10 allows for very quick replacement of a broken winch line 40.Through use of the swivel connector 46, a broken webbing strap 42 orbroken wire rope can be very easily replaced. It is expected that thewebbing strap 42 can be replaced with greater ease than the associatedtrailing end of the winch line 40 formed by wire rope 48. Consequently,it is possible that the webbing strap 42 be designed to fail prior tothe failure point of the wire rope 48 to further ease in the replacementof broken winch lines 40.

[0030] Another advantage of the webbing strap 42 is that the drum 16 maybe smaller than a conventional winch drum reducing the size of the winch10. For example, the drum 16 may be on the order of 4 inches in diameteror even less. The width of the winch 10 may be reduced due to the use ofthe webbing strap 42 further reducing the footprint of the winch 10.Additionally, the elimination of wire rope on the drum may allow theformation of a brakeless winch 10 as shown in FIG. 8 which will furtherreduce the size and cost of the winch 10. This embodiment will bedescribed further below.

[0031] The use of webbing strap 42 as a lead in end of the winch line 40provides other substantial advantages to the winch 10 of the presentinvention. Specifically, the webbing strap 42 allows the lead in end ofthe winch line 40 to include integral safety indicators. Specifically,the webbing can be formed of a brighter material to increase dayvisibility. As shown in FIG. 7, reflective strips 54 formed by yarn maybe woven directly into the sides of the webbing strap 42 to increasenight visibility. It is also anticipated that with the use of webbingstrap 42, the reflective strip 54 could be replaced with a reflectivetape subsequently attached to the webbing strap 42. However, the weavingof such a feature directly into the webbing strap is believed to providecertain advantages preventing the wearing off of the reflective strip54. A further integral safety indicator is a load rating indicia 56,such as text, woven or formed directly in the webbing strap 42.Incorporating a load rating indicia 56 directly onto the webbing strap42 will provide the operator with an easy indication of the operatingparameters of the winch line 40 and the associated winch 10. The loadindicating indicia 56 may preferably be text, as shown; however,symbols, color codes or other techniques could also be used.Conventional winch lines do not have this capability of easilyintegrating such features into the winch line itself. A further integralsafety indicator or feature is abrasive-resistant yarn which can beutilized to form all of, or the edges of, the webbing strap 42 toprevent undo wear of the webbing strap 42. It is expected that thewebbing strap 42 would be approximately 3 inches wide and 0.6 inches inthickness. The width of 3 inches will minimize the width of the winch10. As discussed above, the forming of the webbing strap 42 as a safetyyellow color or white color together with the reflective strip 54 willincrease visibility and minimize the tripping hazard. The preferredwidth of the webbing strap is expected to be 3 to 5 inches in width,although wider widths are possible. Even narrow widths are possibledepending on the number of wraps desired and the thickness of thewebbing strap and the desired load carrying capacity of the webbingstrap.

[0032] The webbing strap 42 can utilize a variety of fibers includingpolyester, nylon, spectra, vectra and other known material. Appropriatewebbing or strapping material for the webbing strap 42 can be found fromstrapping manufacturers such as Murdock Webbing Company. The webbingstrap 42 may additionally incorporate handles 60 on the extreme endsthereof to assist the operator in pulling the lead in through the drum16. As shown in FIG. 7, it is expected that the webbing strap 42 will beformed of a single-ply strapping about 15 feet in length that is doubledover so that handles at the ends thereof are aligned. This representsthe easiest construction. Alternatively, a loop may be formed at one endof the webbing strap 42 for attachment to the swivel connection 46.Additionally, the webbing strap 42 may include a safety stripe 58 at thetrailing end as well as at the end adjacent the swivel connection 46 toindicate to the user when there is sufficient length of the webbingstrap 42 on either side of the drum 16 for safely winding and holdingtension on the drum. As will be understood by a review of the operation,upon beginning of the drum turning operation after the original slackhas been taken up, the webbing strap 42 would pull in from the trailingend through the drum 16 until it begins to overlap. Upon overlapping itwill of course need a certain length of material between the drum 16 andthe swivel connection 46 to accomplish the desired number of wraps. Thelocation of the safety stripe 58 will depend upon the specific diameterof the drum 16. A single webbing strap 42 may be designed for use withdifferent winches 10 having different drum diameters. In such a case,safety stripes 58 for each size drum could be placed on the webbingstrap 42 and color-coded.

[0033] Another advantage of the winch 10 of the present invention isthat it largely utilizes existing winch technology. The onlymodification of an existing winch to the winch 10 of the presentinvention is replacing the existing winch line with the winch line 40 ofthe present invention and replacing the existing drum with a rotatingdrum having a slot 44 or other attachment mechanism for receiving thewebbing strap 42. Consequently, a wide variety of existing manualwinches may be easily retrofitted by replacing the drum and winch lineto form a manual marine winch 10 having a lead in webbing strap 42according to the present invention.

[0034] As discussed above, the winch 10 of the present inventionprovides a quick and easily operated winch operating substantiallyfaster than the prior art. The winch 10 provides a smaller winch that isnarrower and shorter than prior art winches providing a smallerfootprint and thereby minimizing deck space usage. The winch 10 may alsobe used as an unbraked winch. Without the use of brake 28, the releaseof tension on the drum 16 by knocking out the locking dog 26 will causethe webbing strap 42 to wind back up onto the drum 16 due to inertia ofthe drum 16, essentially going from an underwinding position to anoverwinding position on the drum 16. This will provide a self brakingfeature to the winch 10. Any additional tension in the winch line 40will pull the webbing strap 42 and the drum 16 from the overwrappedposition. Consequently, the drum 16 may oscillate between the normalunderwrapped and the overwrapped directions, but the majority of thetension in the winch line 40 will be released in the initial rotationfrom the underwrapped to the overwrapped position. This feature of thewinch 10 will allow the elimination of the foot brake 28 (or hand brake)as shown in FIG. 8, further minimizing the space and cost of the winch10.

[0035] The invention has been described with reference to the preferredembodiment. Obvious modifications and alterations will occur to othersupon reading and understanding the proceeding detailed description. Forexample, a removable stop can be added to the webbing strap 42 afterfeeding through the drum 16 to prevent the strap 42 from beinginadvertently pulled back through the drum 16. The removable stop can beeasily secured through the handle 60, and may be formed by a removablepadlock or the like. It is intended that the invention be construed asincluding all such modifications and alterations insofar as they comewithin the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

1. A manual marine winch comprising: a housing having an attachmentmechanism for securing the winch to a boat deck; a rotating drum mountedin the housing; a mechanism for rotating and holding tension on thedrum; and a winch line having a lead in end adapted to be wound onto thedrum, wherein the lead in end is formed by a webbing strap.
 2. The winchas claimed in claim 1 wherein the attachment mechanism pivotablyattaches the housing to the boat deck.
 3. The winch as claimed in claim2 wherein the mechanism for rotating and holding tension on the drumincludes a gearing system coupled to the drum and at least one lockingdog for holding tension on the drum.
 4. The winch as claimed in claim 1wherein the webbing strap includes an integral safety indicator.
 5. Thewinch as claimed in claim 4 wherein the safety indicator includes loadindicating indicia.
 6. The winch as claimed in claim 4 wherein thesafety indicator includes operating indicia indicative of operatingextremes for beginning of the winding of the webbing strap onto thedrum.
 7. The winch as claimed in claim 4 wherein the safety indicatorincludes reflective material.
 8. The winch as claimed in claim 4 whereinthe safety indicator abrasion resistant material in the webbing strap.9. The winch as claimed in claim 1 wherein the drum includes a slotreceiving the webbing strap there through.
 10. The winch as claimed inclaim 1 wherein the winch line includes one of the group consisting ofwire rope, chain and rope coupled to the webbing strap.
 11. The winch asclaimed in claim 1 wherein the webbing strap is at least 3″ wide.
 12. Amanual marine winch comprising: a housing having an attachment mechanismfor securing the winch to a boat deck; a rotating drum mounted in thehousing; a mechanism for rotating and holding tension on the drum; and awinch line having a lead in end adapted to be wound onto the drum,wherein the lead in end includes an integral safety indicator.
 13. Thewinch as claimed in claim 12 wherein the safety indicator includes loadindicating indicia integral with the lead in end of the winch line. 14.The winch as claimed in claim 12 wherein the safety indicator includesoperating indicia indicative of the range of winch line positions forbeginning of the winding of the winch line onto the drum integral withthe lead in end of the winch line.
 15. The winch as claimed in claim 12wherein the safety indicator includes reflective material integral withthe lead in end of the winch line.
 16. The winch as claimed in claim 12wherein the drum includes a slot receiving the winch line there through.17. The winch as claimed in claim 12 wherein the lead in end includes awebbing strap and the winch line further includes one of the groupconsisting of wire rope, chain and rope coupled to the webbing strap.18. A lead in end of a winch line for wrapping on a drum of a manualmarine winch, wherein the lead in end is formed by a webbing strap. 19.The lead in end of a winch line as claimed in claim 18, wherein thewebbing strap includes load indicating indicia integral with the webbingstrap.
 20. The lead in end of a winch line as claimed in claim 18,wherein the webbing strap includes operating indicia indicative of therange of proper location of the webbing strap for beginning of thewinding of the winch line onto the drum that is integral with the leadin end of the winch line. 21 The lead in end of a winch line as claimedin claim 18, wherein the lead in end of a winch line includes a couplingfor attachment to one of the group consisting of wire rope, chain andrope. 22 The lead in end of a winch line as claimed in claim 18, whereinthe lead in end of a winch line includes an integral grab handleadjacent one end thereof.
 23. The lead in end of a winch line as claimedin claim 18, wherein the webbing strap includes an integral safetyindicia and a removable stop attached to an end thereof to prevent thewebbing strap from being inadvertently pulled through the drum.
 24. Amethod of tensioning a winch line on a manual marine winch comprisingthe steps of: feeding a lead in end of the winch line through a rotatingdrum of the winch; manually pulling the lead in end of the winch linethrough the rotating drum to remove slack in the winch line; androtating the drum of the winch.
 25. A method of modifying an existingmarine winch comprising the steps of: replacing the existing drum with adrum having a slot therethrough adapted to receive a webbing strap; andreplacing the existing winch line with a winch having a lead in endformed of a webbing strap.